Alright, so, my life has been missing something since, about, April. Since June 2006 I had been writing down everything I did everyday, and when I got to college it got a little bit harder to remember, but, I kept up with it. Then when I moved back to Massachusetts in May I accidentally threw away months January through April. Gone. So, I stopped writing everything down for the summer. And something was missing.

SO, New Year’s Resolution: Write in this blog everyday! I’m going to document the start of a new decade! I promise I’m actually going to do it. Pinky Promise.

As for tonight, I rang it all in with Keegan and Nils drinking sparkling cider and eating bagel bites, and that was perfect for me. I really had no preference as to whether or not 2009 left. You know how some people were all “FUCK 2009, give me the new year because it’s gonna be so much better!” and some people were all “Noooo, 2009, don’t gooooo”. I had no preference. 2009 was good to me, much better than 2008, but I’m not jinxing myself by thinking 2010 will be better or worse. And I sent a message in to KEO that will be on a satellite set to return to earth in 50,000 years. I must say, I’m pretty happy with what I wrote. Also, tomorrow is the neighborhood brunch at our house. But I might just sleep until noon.

Anyway, new year, new blog, here we go

I don’t know about you but I have found the big 09 has flown by. It just seems like yesterday that I was queuing in the cold outside of Jamie Oliver’s Restaurant in Kingston for a joint birthday meal – that happened all the way back in January!

Ringing in 2010...

As years go it certainly had its ups and downs. I spent the large part of the year with worries about my job – for a time I was considered to be one of those employees who were ‘At Risk’, but luckily I managed to find a project just in time.

My squash progress has overall ended up on the positive side of the ledger – I spent virtually the whole of the year in the lower Gold League, but ended up being poised to drop back down to the Silver ones – looks like quite a lot of work needs to be done.

Pool-wise I certainly feel very much like the Jedi – the last time I played I won by the convincing margin of 5-0!

The old love life still needs a bit of a kick start – perhaps something to concentrate on in 2010…

Other highlights were my trip to Copenhagen – this was truly awesome despite going on my own, and joining the Weybridge Voluntary Organisation and discovering Running were things that made life that bit more interesting.

Soon I’ll be off to the exotic climb of Worcester Park to see in the New Year with some friends, so it just remains for me to wish you all a happy and safe 2010.

Happy New Year!

Boxing day night, my Uncle Kenneth, Jane, Andy, Leslie, Chris and baby William came around… It was great to see them all, Williams grown so much since the last time I saw him. Ellen cooked an amazing ham which she boiled/glazed with coke (Yes Coca Cola)… It was really delicious! One to try at home folks.

On the 28th, it was nice and sunny and the snow was sparkled… so Cindy and I decided to go on an expedition to find the north pole (we found it) Take a look at the video to see the proof.

That night we all went to Edinburgh to see We Will Rock You, we had a nice Indian curry before heading into the theatre. It was an amazing show. The lead guy Gallielo was an Australian actor. They were all very good… the story line was pretty funny as it was a story to fit as many Queen songs in as possible. We both had a great time.

The next day Ross, Malcolm, Cindy and Me went into the city to have lunch before the big Sub Crawl started. We had lunch at the first pub.. It was a great lunch – I had fish and Chips and Cindy has the mac and cheese. The Sub crawl was so much fun… I didn’t really feel the cold much at all and I didn’t have a drink at like 2 stops… I celebrated the last 2 stops with Tequila shots! This was 5th year the crawl has being going on and I don’t think its going to stop anytime soon. We both had a great time.

The next day, Cindy and I went back into the City to meet up with Pauline – we had a nice lunch in a whetherspoons on George square, then walked around and went and looked at the hamleys that’s just opened in Glasgow – its a massive toy store.  We were going to go see Avatar later on, but the cinema line to buy tickets was massive so we decided just to go home. Ellen and Tom over some of his cousins and next door and Margeret and the girls were over too – it was a nice gathering, but they left soon after we got home.

Today is the day before 2010.. We’re going to George Square tonight with Ross and Malcolm and I think some of Malcolms friends are coming and also the boys cousins that are over 18 are coming too.

Happy New Year to Everyone…

2010 here we come!!

Love Kath and Cindy

Before Nowhere Boy last night, I had a drink in All Bar One in Cambridge.  I was interested to see that they now have Aspall’s Cyder on draught.  It would appear that many bars stock it as it is in the on-line Beer menu.

Even if the bar doesn’t have Aspall, they mention lots of other proper ciders and no mentions of the dreaded chemical ones with added nastiness.

Most All Bar One usually have newspapers to read and some even have the Beano.  There is also usually something on the menu that is gluten-free too!

There is a lot of snow. Several inches over the week or two before Christmas, and a couple of massive falls in the past four days. 30cm last night. Temperatures: -11.2 the lowest so far recorded in the garden, -8.5 today. It went up to -4.2 and felt quite warm. Small birds are suffering. I have been feeding them; especially on apples. There are still two crates of random apples in the back porch and birds and possibly small mammals have helped themselves. The apples have frozen and thawed a few times, but seem still usable. Blackbirds love them, and I have had two fieldfares coming to the bird table every day, beautiful, fluffed up creatures looking for fruit and seeds. Sparkly speckly starlings come, too and a wood pigeon joins the collared doves who are resident. James over the road has had a spotted woodpecker.

There is no foraging to be done but we reap the rewards of a year spent squirreling away wild foods. At Christmas we broached the cider – it is sparkling, and not at all bad, but think will be even better in a couple more weeks. Got freshly pressed apple juice out of the freezer, too, and had plenty of rowan jelly for the turkey (yes, succumbed to a turkey even though we have home raised cockerels in the freezer), chutney for the sausage rolls, blaeberries and raspberries for the trifle and more home made wine and sloe gin that we can decently drink. Roasted hazelnuts from the copse, and a late jarring of rose hip syrup to keep up the vitamin C levels. Log foraging has sort of paid off – plenty of fuel for the stove but would be a darned sight more useful had Someone agreed with my desire to build a new log store out the back – wet logs in plastic fertiliser bags that fill with snow are limited in value.

My nursery is covered in snow. I cannot do anything about it and probably will lose a lot of plants in the extreme cold. I am going through the seed catalogues half-heartedly but not counting on an early start to production!

I’ll bet hardly any of you remember that legendry song from Bow Wow Wow!

It partially sums up what I was up to this morning though. I was up before 9am (which is pretty early for me), as I was putting in a bit of final preparation for what was soon to come – yep, I was building up to my first ever proper run! The gratuitous eating and boozing that are part and parcel of the last three days had taken their toll – I was feeling washed out, flabby, sluggish, not too mention just plain tired. To overcome these Christmas excesses, my mate and I developed a cunning plan – to go for an early morning run in the fair glade that is Richmond Park.

The initial signs were encouraging – the new bits of kit I had bought felt comfortable, and I was able to assemble my other stuff that I needed pretty easily. Before long I was in the car heading out of New Malden, and was pulling into the Kingston Gate parking area of Richmond Park way before the agreed time of 10am. As I waited for my mate to arrive I tried a bit of stretching. The air felt cold and crisp, but the base layer I was wearing protected well against the chill. At 10.15am I returned to my car – the temperature seemed to be dropping slightly.  A text from my mate bore bad news – his car wouldn’t start so he was unable to make it. I was running solo.

Where it all started...

I made my way from the car park to my starting point, the area of ground just beyond the Kingston gate entrance, and after checking my watch, started to jog. The plan was to run for 15 minutes exactly, and then to run back to the car. As I hadn’t run for years, the route planned was the downhill one, going clock wise around the park perimeter, towards Ham Gate. As well as being easier, this route was also pretty scenic – the bright winter sunshine was spilling through the branches of trees, giving a dappled, slightly hazy effect. The lack of even the slightest of breezes created an air of chilly calm that was perfect for running, which is probably why there were quite a few other runners also out there braving the elements. En route I passed a couple of very pretty woman joggers, and a man bid me good morning as he ran by. I felt very much part of the running community.

As I entered the stretch of ground that formed the approach to Ham Gate, I was surprised  to find that I had only been running for about 6 minutes! Time had really slowed down – it seemed like I was running for ages. I jogged across the road passing Ham Gate – only two more minutes had passed. I found this phenomena a bit unsettling as I was starting to tire. As I ran on, I began to sweat pretty heavily. I slowed my pace slightly to conserve energy. The 10 minute mark was reached, and after what seemed like an age, 15 minutes were clocked up as I reached the approach to Petersham Gate. I rested a bit on a nearby bench for a few minutes, and then started off on the run back.

This was a lot slower than the run down, mainly as my course was now up hill, and also due to the fact that I was seriously knackered! My legs felt leaden, causing my pace to slow down quite a bit – just as well I wasn’t running against the clock. When I eventually slowed down to a halt I found I was only a few hundred meters away from Kingston Gate – I was back! I managed an ambling jog back to my starting point, and then gratefully returned to my car, where I did a bit more stretching to try and revive my tired legs.

Apart from feeling a bit tired I thought the run had gone pretty well – there were no serious aches and pains, so I’ll definitely give it another go – the whole experience did highlight how unfit I’ve got though…

Well, last weekend saw Yew Tree day which finishes with a get-together at a friends house, the ideal occasion to test-drive my cider and nettle beer.

First off, the cider. This turned out to be a really nice strong dry cider with just the right amount of sparkle. It was so popular that it has all gone. Just as well I have a second batch ready for bottling.

The nettle beer had much improved since the last tasting. Originally it was very sharp especially on the first sip, but a few weeks of maturing has made the world of difference and it is now really nice and very strong (no idea how strong as I didn’t measure the original and final gravities).

Quite successful I think.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
The Urchins sent to me
Twelve US treasons,
Eleven Frasier seasons,
Ten jokes on septics,
Nine Sainsbury Basics,
Eight layers of clothing,
Seven bills they’re owing,
Six books on travel,
Five UK channels,
Four pints of cider,
Three starving writers,
Two crumpled fivers,
And a movement on a global art scale!

The Urchins wish you happy holidays!

That’s what I am doing at the moment…just chilling out. It’s nice to have a bit of a respite though, as it has been a busy four or five days (apart from the night of the snow of course!)…

Have a good one!

Since the O2 I have been to see another live music gig, though this one wasn’t so high profile – it was at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston, where a friend of mine was providing the musical entertainment. She did a sterling job, singing a few covers mixed in with a bit of her own material. It certainly went down well with the punters.

Christmas Eve saw the usual manic last minute Xmas shopping (yeah I never learn!), and then in the evening I joined my family for a meal at a Chinese restaurant in New Malden.

Today, it’s the usual Christmas thing – food, booze, and Turkey avoidance!

I hope you all have a great Christmas, and whatever you do, stay off them sprouts!

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
The Urchins sent to me
Eleven Frasier seasons,
Ten jokes on septics,
Nine Sainsbury Basics,
Eight layers of clothing,
Seven bills they’re owing,
Six books on travel,
Five UK channels,
Four pints of cider,
Three starving writers,
Two crumpled fivers,
And a movement on a global art scale!

Yeah I was there – two nights ago I was at the O2! Only as part of the audience I should add, but for me, that was no problem. It was totally unplanned though – it came totally out of the blue…

Where I was...

The first I heard about it was that afternoon, around 2:30pm. I was trying on some base layer clothing (for my planned running) in the changing cubicle of a Kingston store, when my mobile began ringing. It turned out to be my mate, who was calling from the O2 site in Greenwich. He had got hold of two tickets to see Paul McCartney’s ‘Good Evening London’ show, which was taking place that very evening. He said if I wanted to go I would have to get my self down to the entrance of the O2 by 6pm. All this seemed fair enough – I agreed to go along, and about an hour later, my journey began.

Travelling down there from New Malden Station couldn’t be easier – at Waterloo I took the Jubilee Line down to North Greenwich – the whole trip wasn’t more than fifty minutes. The O2 is literally just outside North Greenwich Tube, and as I emerged into daylight from the station escalator, the Dome was an impressive sight to behold. I met up with my mate just beyond the main entrance, who had been on a bit of a spending spree – the sum of £30 had got him the ‘Good Evening London’ Macca T-shirt, which he was already wearing, along with the official programme to the said concert. He seemed pretty pleased with his purchases.

Feeling a bit peckish, we made our way down the crowded malls in search of some burger based fare, and it was only as I passed the various shops, restaurants and mini-funfairs that I realised just how big the O2 venue was. We eventually settled for some ‘bratwurst in a roll’ from a stall in one of the German Markets (they get everywhere!), and then we made our way to a bar in a Chinese restaurant for a couple of beers.

As the clock ticked ever closer to 6.30pm it was time to get down to business. We made our way to the music venue – entrance H was where we had to be, which we located pretty quickly. A lengthy queue had already formed, which was moving in an orderly and thankfully quick way. We were expertly guided by the O2 staff to the correct block, row and seat number. Our seats were on the fourth level, and though we had a full view of the stage, it looked very small and distant – the giant video screens were a necessity if we were to have a hope of seeing anything.

Over the next two hours the music stadium completely filled, and then accompanied by a burst of activity from the giant video screens, the lights dimmed and the stage was suddenly swathed in a blaze of light as Macca made his entrance, music blasting around the stadium. As you can tell it was high octane stuff, and even though I’m not a huge Paul McCartney fan, I thought the gig really worked – he mixed up his modern stuff with some Beatles and Wings tracks, including tributes to the late great John Lennon and George Harrison. The pyrotechnics that accompanied the legendry Bond theme ‘Live and let die’ were awesome, and all the old favourites like ‘Mull of Kintyre’ were given an airing.

My mate and I were there to the end, just making the last train back to SW London – I didn’t even have time for a kebab!

On the tenth day of Christmas,
The Urchins sent to me
Ten jokes on septics,
Nine Sainsbury Basics,
Eight layers of clothing,
Seven bills they’re owing,
Six books on travel,
Five UK channels,
Four pints of cider,
Three starving writers,
Two crumpled fivers,
And a movement on a global art scale!

Mulled Wine (Photo credt: )

“He has given us plenty of merriment, I am sure,” said Fred, “and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. Here is a glass of mulled wine ready to our hand at the moment; and I say, ‘Uncle Scrooge’!”

“Well! Uncle Scrooge!” they cried.

“A Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to the old man, whatever he is!” said Scrooge’s nephew.

~~~ A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens ~~~

OK, blame it on Charles Dickens, that literary trendsetter who blazed the way for the Victorian Christmas.

It? Mulled wine. You know, that foul stuff Grandmother allowed in the house once a year, like Christmas, and most people considered that a blessing.

Like fruitcake,* mulled wine comes from entrenched and revered Tradition.

You’ll find early written recipes for mulled wine in sixteenth-century recipe books. But it’s likely that the practice of spicing and heating wine dates far back into the mists of history, as a way to rescue wine gone bad by heating it and spicing it up to hide the off tastes. Or maybe, just maybe, they LIKED it like that.

The Romans called it “Calida” or “Calda,” an eerily similar word to the Spanish word, “caldo,” or stock.

During the Middle Ages, some people named it Potus Ypocras or Hipocris after, yes, Hippocrates, the Greek Father of Medicine, because of the healthful properties of this ancient concoction. Since only poor people generally drank plain water, the mulled wine offered some assurance of status as well, not to mention the unmentionable: no diarrhea caused by bad water. Hopefully not, anyway.

In English dialect from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the word “mulled” meant “muddled” or “mixed up.” In earlier times, of course, ale, cider, perry, or mead stood in for wine. And probably tasted better.

One version of mulled wine, Lamb’s Wool, makes an appearance more as a potion served on Epiphany (January 6) and requires crushed baked-apple pulp, cream, egg yolks, and whipped egg whites. (It’s beginning to sound a little bit like eggnog, isn’t it? But it isn’t.)

Honoré Balzac, in The Peasants, captured a certain truth about the popularity of mulled wine:

In the Morvan and in that part of Bourgogne which lies at its foot on the Paris side, this mulled wine, which La Tonsard flung in Pere Fourchon’s face, is a rather dear beverage which plays a great part in the life of the peasants, and is prepared with more or less skill by grocers, or by keepers of cafes where cafes exist. This blessed beverage, compounded of choice wine, sugar, cinnamon, and other spices, is preferable to all the disguised or adulterated forms of eaude-vie known as ratafia, cent-sept-ans, eau-des-braves, cassis, vespltro, esprit-de-solril, etc. Mulled wine is found as far east as the boundary between France and Switzerland. In the Jura, in the wild regions to which some few enthusiastic tourists find their way, the innkeepers, on the word of travelling salesmen, give the name of Syracuse wine to that manufactured product, an excellent drink, by the way, for which you are delighted to pay three or four francs a bottle under the spur of the canine thirst caused by ascending mountain peaks. In the households of the Morvan and Bourgogne, the slightest twinge of pain, the most trivial shock to the nerves, is an excuse for a draught of mulled wine. The women, before, during, and after their confinement, take sugared toast with it. Mulled wine has devoured many peasant fortunes. More than once, too, the seductive fluid has necessitated marital chastisement.

Mulling Spices (Photo credit: Melissa Goodman)

And that holds true for other time periods and other places, too.

William Kitchiner wrote about mulling spices in The Cook’s Oracle (1823):

Essence of Allspice for mulling of Wine.—(No. 412.)

Oil of pimento, a drachm, apothecaries’ measure, strong spirit of wine, two ounces, mixed by degrees: a few drops will give the flavour of allspice to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine, or to make a bishop. Mulled wine made with Burgundy is called bishop; with old Rhenish wine, cardinal; and with Tokay, Pope. RITTER’S Weinlehres, p. 200.

Mrs. Isabella Beeton, that icon of English cookery, took a few liberties and “borrowed” recipes from Hannah Glasse and Eliza Acton. Her recipe for mulled wine doesn’t  include certain touches, like oranges, etc., suggested by Acton:**

1838.-TO MULL WINE.

INGREDIENTS.- To every pint of wine allow 1 large cupful of water, sugar and spice to taste.

Mode.-In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quantity might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful. Boil the spice in the water until the flavour is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling-point, when serve with strips of crisp dry toast, or with biscuits. The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a very large proportion of sugar. The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately cleaned, and should be kept exclusively for the purpose. Small tin warmers may be purchased for a trifle, which are more suitable than saucepans, as, if the latter are not scrupulously clean, they spoil the wine, by imparting to it a very disagreeable flavour. These warmers should be used for no other purpose.

Mulling Cone

As Beeton implies, one crucial piece of equipment that assisted the cook mulling the wine, or the cider, or the mead, was a “mulling cone.”

Numerous cookbook authors in the nineteenth century plagiarized Mrs. Beeton’s recipe for mulled wine, including Laura Simkins Fitchett. That lady’s Beverages and Sauces of Colonial Virginia, 1607 -1907 (1906) sports dozens of recipes with catchy names for alcohol-based drinks, like “Governor Berkeley’s Claret Cup”, most of which appear in Beeton’s best-selling Book of Household Management (1861). Fitchett’s recipe for “Mulled Wine” comes verbatim from Beeton’s book.***

Just goes to show you that maybe there never really has been anything new under the sun when it comes to food writing!

The big question, one you’re probably asking too, is how did poor peasants afford the spices necessary for a proper mulling? What was the role of the monasteries in all this mulling about? And there is another avenue to explore and that is the question of ritualized drunkenness in the apparent wild abandon of winter solstice celebrations.

Stay tuned …

*See also Nutty as a … and Fruitcake, Fermentation by Another Name.

**Eliza Acton, Modern Cookery in All its Branches … (1845):

TO MULL WINE.
(An excellent French Receipt.)

Boil in a wineglassful and a half of water, a quarter of an ounce of spice (cinnamon, ginger slightly bruised, and cloves), with three ounces of fine sugar, until they form a thick syrup, which must not on any account be allowed to burn. Pour in a pint of port wine, and stir it gently until it is on the point of boiling only: it should then be served immediately. The addition of a strip or two of orange-rind , cut extremely thin, gives to this beverage the flavour of bishop. In France light claret takes the place of port wine in making it, and the better kinds of vin ordinaire are very palatable thus prepared.

***On the plagiarizing of recipes, see Stephen Mennell, “Plagiarism and Originality – Diffusionism in the Study of the History of Cookery,” Petits Propos Culinaires 68: 29-38, 2001; and Jennifer Stead, “Quizzing Glasse: or Hannah Scrutinized,” Petits Propos Culinaires 13: 9-24 and 14: 17-30, 1983. Henry Notaker added his take on the subject in “Comments on the Interpretation of Plagiarism,”  Petits Propos Culinaires in the July 2002 issue.

© 2009 C. Bertelsen

Me pictured with James Crowden and book

By some fluke I’d managed to get the front cover shot of the book and I must admit I felt rather proud as the book was passed around and James introduced me to other contributors, local poets and writers. The book looks fantastic, the cover has a impressive matt finish and is an entertaining and surprising read. I had no idea both John Steinbeck and Tolken lived and worked in Somerset.

On the way back to Bristol to photograph another depressingly clueless performance by Bristol City (v Reading) I came across tree and patch of land completely covered in Ice in an otherwise green Landscape. I was a very bizarre site and another example of why traveling through Somerset is rewarding experience for any photographer.

ice tree Somerset

On the subject of bizarre I called into Glastonbury the week before to take a look at Bill Bradshaw’s ‘iamCider’ photography exhibition. Unfortunately I missed it by and couple of weeks (yikes). Glastonbury was full of Druids (even more than usual) as there was a pagan event taking place. I couldn’t quite work out exactly what was happening but it apparently involved a Harry Potter carriadge and for some strange reason dragging a dead horse through the high street. Again I managed to miss most of the proceedings, just a few men in yellow high vis jackets were left mopping up the blood from the tarmac.

Medieval Barn, Glastonbury Rural Museum, illuminated by the Winter Sunlight.

A walk up to the Tor proved a very rewarding experience as the sun was setting over the misty levels of Somerset. A few of the druids had also made the Pilgrimage. They stared wistfully at the view, played their penny whistles an took photographs of each other. I felt very at peace with myself.

A druids photo Opportunity.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
The Urchins sent to me
Nine Sainsbury Basics,
Eight layers of clothing,
Seven bills we’re owing,
Six books on travel,
Five UK channels,
Four pints of cider,
Three starving writers,
Two crumpled fivers,
And a movement on a global art scale!

I first took note of Henry of Harcourt’s cider at one of the many food exhibitions held near Federation Square. I think it was 2007 and I was carefully taken through their complete range of ciders and perry. One very large pour after another.

Henry of Harcourt offer a couple of ciders, a perry and range of fortified ciders and apple cider vinegars. On taste for me this afternoon is the Perry, Original Cider and the insane Duck and Bull Premium Draught Cider. Not for the faint of heart, each Henry of Harcourt offering is honest, punchy and full of fruit flavour.

First to the Perry. As soon as I poured this sparkling pear wine it was obvious what it was all about. Real pears and real flavour. Light in colour, if not slightly golden, with a subtle carbonation and an appealing cloudiness. The aroma is all pear, fresh, inviting but with enough life to remind you of the 7.4% ABV. I was torturing myself by just looking and smelling the product, so it was onto the taste. An initial spice, if not slightly bitter taste was promptly followed by the unmistakable taste of fresh pear and then rounded off nicely with the ferment. A really stunning example of what good perry should taste like.

Somewhat shaken, but certainly not rattled, it was off the perry and straight into the original cider. The word ‘original’ in the title is not a marketing term, let me assure you. This cider was dry, crisp and full of the pink lady apples that gave their juice to be part of this cider. Golden in colour, slightly sweet on the nose and almost tannic in flavour, the original cider was a contradiction of terms. After the perry I wanted to like it, however the dryness is simply too much for my palate and I’m left wanting more flavour and less astringent, saliva-zapping emptiness. Not bad, but nothing superb.

By the time I get to the Duck and Bull Premium Draught Cider, I must say that I feel like I have most certainly taken one for the team. Fallen upon the sword, if you will. With the perry at 7.4% ABV and the original cider at 8.5%, the Duck and Bull was set to blow my socks off at a whopping 9.0% alcohol. And blow my socks off it did, not just with alcohol, but with a nose that took me back to ye olde England and a palate that screams, “more bulls than poultry”! Gutsy, honest and packed full of fruit, the Duck and Bull was easily my favourite.

So next time you find yourself in Harcourt, be sure to check out Henry of Harcourt. Their cider has certainly won me over, even if by ABV.

Check them out here.

Originally I had planned to use the title “Great Caramel Experiment” to refer to the fact that I did an entire marathon of caramel recipes tests, and report back to you with the results of which ones were fabulous and which ones should never be fed to even your mortal enemies.

But when I ran out of time, patience, and pans to cool caramel in, I changed the logic for the name: yes, there aren’t as many recipes anymore, but they’re all absolutely delicious.

There were three things that I really wanted to try out here, and those are the three that I wound up doing before I got bored and wandered off to do other, nerdier things. One was to find a good recipe for vegan caramels, because although it seems like a really easy thing to adapt, I’ve never found anything but vegan caramel sauces when I look for recipes. The second was to figure out a recipe that incorporated goat cheese, because it has such a wonderful tangy edge to it that I thought would pair beautifully with the buttery sweetness of caramels. And finally, a spiced cider caramel, after I found a recipe that I knew I just had to had to had to tweak a little and test out.

These all work off the same basic recipe, so you can veganize the cider caramels too! And I guess if you manage to find some way to simulate goat cheese in a vegan manner, that too.

Basic Vegan Caramel

• 1 cup coconut milk (not light, this isn’t the time to be thinking healthy!) or soy creamer (use soy for a more neutral taste- the coconut does add a bit of a flavor to these)
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup agave nectar or corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water

Goat Cheese Caramels

• 1 cup cream
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup soft goat cheese (fresca works best)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water

Spiced Cider Caramels

• 1 1/2 cups apple juice concentrate, thawed
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 2-inch segments of cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water

(Note: if you want to make any of these lightly flavored, you could steep the water beforehand to make a tea with it. I’ve have some wonderful flavors like lavender and rosemary before.)

If you’re making cider caramel, put the juice concentrate and vinegar in a small saucepan and simmer down to a reduction of about 1/2 a cup. This can take up to an hour, and make sure to keep an eye on it towards the end as it can burn really easily once it starts to thicken! Also, if you’re going to steep anything in the water, now is the time.

Prepare an 8×8 inch baking pan for them to cool in. If you’re using glass, just go ahead and grease it; if you’re using metal line it with a sheet of parchment or wax paper and grease that instead.

Put the cream, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. If you’re making goat cheese caramels, add that as well. If you’re making cider caramels, add the cinnamon sticks and other spices to the mixture. I didn’t have any whole allspice or nutmeg when I made this, so I put the ground versions in a teabag and put that inside a little teabell, and it worked just fine.

Heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until smooth. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. If you’re making cider caramels, mix your cider reduction into the cream mixture, and leave the spices to steep until just before you add it to the rest of the ingredients (see two paragraphs below).

In a large (4 quart) pot with a heavy bottom, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water. Bring to a boil and simmer until it becomes golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Once the sugar mixture begins to caramelize and change color, add in the cream mixture. Stir it vigorously the entire time, as it will boil up and can become grainy or burnt if not stirred properly. Continue to keep the mixture at strong simmer, stirring occasionally, until it reaches the soft ball stage. To check, dribble a little of the sauce into a bowl of ice water every so often. When it forms a pliable ball of your desired texture when cool, your caramel is done! Add your vanilla, if you’re doing so, and immediately remove it from the heat and pour into your prepared pan.

Allow to cool to room temperate or all the way, but you can put them in the fridge to speed it up once they’ve cooled a little. When set, cut them into bite-sized pieces and wrap them in parchment paper.

These caramels are not only pretty easy, but they come out beautifully. The goat cheese is probably my favorite, they’re just so rich and creamy, but the cider one have a wonderful bit of spiced tanginess to them, and the vegan ones are fantastically light and buttery. Have fun!:)

A bottle of Weston’s Organic Cider in the snow on Anchor Road just after midnight. Very Bristol!

Matt

You won’t need ten guesses to work out what this one is about! Yep, the fair land of New Malden has, like many parts of the UK, been hit with a fairly liberal amount of snowfall. Now whilst all this may look very nice, the practicalities of living with it sucks big time – it basically makes getting around a complete pain in the butt!

Winter wonderland?

Walking around has proven particularly perilous – I have taken a few falls, mainly on the approach to my car, though luckily for me only my pride was hurt – I managed to keel over right at the time when the world and his wife were around to see. A drive into Surbiton wasn’t too bad. Apart from another fall after getting out of the car (the ground was like an ice rink!), it was a case of mission accomplished as I managed to top up my beer supply from the local branch of Sainsburys. The drive back was slowed down as more snow fell from the skies -the quarter of an hour New Malden bound journey was extended to forty five minutes, as the cars were bunching up in second gear.

Another consequence of this festive fall out is that it put paid to my evening out – planned for tonight was an experience of eighties retro music courtesy of the band Fake Tan. The venue for this was a pub in Twickenham, and for once I was not the one selected as the designated driver from my group of friends. Even though it may sound a bit on the cheesy side, it had all the hallmarks of a really good night out. The severe weather warnings soon put paid to that – the person doing the driving considered it too perilous to go.

So that’s about the size of it – I am snowed in here in New Malden. Plans for the entertainment have been down sized to a couple of pints and a DVD. At the moment I am in complete disagreement with legendry crooner Bing Crosby – the prospect of a White Christmas for me is a nightmare!